Question – Should It Be Illegal To Make Readers Wait One Whole Year For A New Installment?

Yes.

End of post.

Okay okay… In all seriousness, I feel it depends on the series. As it stands now (often anyways), a new series will spew out new installments every 4 to 6 months where long standing series will go the one-a-year route. I almost wish it were the opposite. If I have read 12 books in a series I am invested in it and I want to know what happens next NOW! Especially if evil authors leave us with a major cliffhanger! *glares at evil authors* I know publishers release books in a new series quick-ish (sometimes) because they don’t want readers to forget about this shiny new series and they want to suck in as many people as possible but if I’m not invested yet, I don’t mind waiting a while for my fix.

Then again, when you finish a book in a long running series it feels like an eternity when you think of having to wait twelve months for the next book…but then twelve months end up going by rather quickly. So then one a year isn’t so terrible…but it would still be better if it were one book every six months. 😉

So what about you? Do you think it should be illegal to have readers wait one whole year for a new installment?

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Remember back in the day when a reader had to sometimes wait years for the next installment in a series? Back when I was on the LKH Anita Blake crack, I swear I had the shakes because she would take almost two years to release a book.

I’m seriously in awe of some of these authors who publish close to 5 books a year. Seriously awe.

While they can’t make it illegal, I think the whole one book per year in the series is just a lot of crap. And rude. And unprofessional. And no author can tell me that it takes a whole year per book. Too many top-notch authors put out more than one book per year, in more than one series. Nora Roberts, Jennifer Estep, Sherrilyn Kenyon, Kristen Ashley just to name a few. I have quit a number of good series because the author only publishes one book per year. There are way too many good authors and series out there to wait on the once-per-year nonsense.

I guess I’m a little different. I want the best product possible when it comes to the book itself. Some writers write a hell of a lot slower than others. This is just truth. Some will tell you they write VERY SLOW. Am I thrilled when some of them manage to put out more than 1 book a year? YES!! 😀 But at the end of the day, it’s not always the author’s decision to make about when the book will be released. I’d rather wait a year (ahem, Nalini Singh/Ilona Andrews/Jenn Bennett) and have a frickin fabulous book, as opposed to several mediocre ones.

I feel this pain too. However, in defense of authors, it’s not always in our control. Especially if it’s not a multi-book contract, we have to wait through the submission process and acquisitions process on sequels. Then the publisher fits us in the schedule…often a long time in the future.

I can see it from both sides — there are definitely authors that I want more books from *so* badly (right now Anne Bishop and Nalini Singh are at the top of that list) that a year feels like forever to wait, but I’m also a fan of a number of series where the books come out every few years (Brandon Sanderson’s second in the Stormlight, for instance), and I remember when I was young waiting incredibly anxiously for Weis and Hickman to finally finish up the Death Gate Cycle.

There are also times when I’ve read a hotly anticipated book and felt really let down. The latest Mercy Thompson book, for example — I would rather have waited another year or two and read a more solidly constructed book at the end. (come on — no freaking reaction shot from Tony upon seeing Mercy turn into a coyote right in front of him?)

And as an author… yikes. That’s a lot of pressure. Some authors are fast, some authors are slow — plus there are some writers who have to balance the writing with either a day job or a family life, and I can understand that. Plus with the editing cycle, sometimes you have to put down the next book and go back to fix the one before it, and that can throw *all kinds* of wrenches in timelines.

I don’t know if it should be illegal but I know what you mean. I hate to wait too long for books, but I can wait when I know and trust the author to deliver the best possible book; in those cases the wait was more than worth it.

Yes is the answer! Had to wait two years for book 3 of the Dante’s girl series by Natasha Rhodes, when I finally got it I had pretty much lost interest, I have yet to finish it! Obviously this doesn’t happen with my favourite authors, then I’m usually happy enough to wait(and grumble) as I know it will be worth it in the end!

There are definitely some series that I’d love to receive on a faster schedule. But with SO MANY great series out there, (and re-reading a series to refamiliarize myself before a new book comes out) I usually have enough on my plate. It gets difficult to prioritize my to-read list when too many great books come out on the same date or too close to each other. But if it took more than a year, I think I’d forget about the series unless it was one of my absolute favorites – that’s WAY TOO LONG!

Naaah…Pressure to produce forces authors to write by formula instead of inspiration. Plus, the logical extension of pushing books out more frequently is going to serial format, which can backfire. I started reading romances on Literotica (which served as a training ground for quite a few of today’s popular authors). Serials invite problems like incongruities and anachronisms because the author gets drawn in different directions when chapters are published before the whole work is completed. Sometimes the author even loses interest and lets the whole thing hang, and lemme tell ya, that REALLY is excruciating.

So on the whole, I’m content to wait and enjoy the anticipation. I fill up the time discovering other authors and before I know it, that preorder from Kindle appears out of nowhere.

I’ve been waiting 2.5 years for the next Hoodoo book by Adrian Phoenix. I have no idea when it’s coming out. I think she just gave up on it 🙁 I have her Makers Song books too, but haven’t dared read them yet because she takes way too long to put out books.

Oh lord! This is a tough one, because the selfish part of me wants to pitch a fit and say “damn it – I want my book NOW!” but would I really want one of my favorite authors rushing their writing process, and creating sub-par work? Absolutely not. I’ve seen firsthand how quality can suffer if an author is pushed to write more quickly than they are comfortable with. One of my favorite high fantasy authors – George RR Martin actually tends to take 6+ years to write a new book. During his last two books, he had his publisher pushing him to write faster. They even hired a writing coach to motivate him. I feel his work really suffered from all that rushing.

So no, I’d rather have authors take the time to write a tight, cohesive story, that they can be proud of. Once that book is written, and edited though, it should be published immediately. If it’s the publishing house sitting on it then that pisses me off.

If I were smart, I would wait patiently for all of the books in a series to come out before I read the series, but alas, I don’t have that kind of self-control. 🙂

Katie – I am in awe of authors who can write a crazy amount of books in a year…and I’m not even an author!

Michele – I agree with you about KMM’s books. There should be a rule that at least she can’t make us wait over a year lol

Felicia – 🙂

Linda – You are stronger than me to be able to quit a series like that lol

Readsalot – You are right that it’s not always the authors decision so maybe we shouldn’t be so hard on them 😉

Seleste – Sales. All about the sales. *sigh*

ML – Your point about not all authors being able to dedicate entire days to writing is a good one.

Bookaholic Cat – It’s almost a damned if you do and damned if you don’t situation lol

Sophie – I often forget details about a book when I have to wait for the next book…and I don’t usually have time to re-read a previous installment to ‘get ready’ for a new installment. And losing interest, I’ve done that.

bloeduedd – Yes, definitely worst to wait more than one year. 🙁

Diane – lol

Liz – OMG the crazy release dates! The ones where 20 amazing books come out all at once! Both amazing days and scary days lol

Mzcue – Oh my goodness that would be so excruciating!

Sapphire – Sometimes I think it’s not a bad idea to wait until a few books accumulate before diving into a series. Fever series is the perfect example of that!

Jessica – You are right. If the book will be better then once a year is great. If rushing will make the book weak, not worth it. And 6+ years! Wow…

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I'm Julie and this blog is all about Romance and Urban Fantasy Book Reviews, Author Interviews, Guest Posts, Slices of Life and Silly Stuff Too!

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